Spring forming and quenching machine



June s, 1923. 1,457,340

' J. F. BEANS SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE avg/W June 5, 1923. 1 1,457,340 J. F. BEANS SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet E 1921 s sheets-sheet s June 5,1923. v

JF.BEANS SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE Filed oct. 14.

Patented June 5. 1923.

unire .JOHN r. BEANS, orl

To all whom it Be it known that l, JOHN zen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and have invente Forming and the following is a sraias MASSILLON, OHIO,

tisana if artic PATE.

` SVPING FOBMING AND QUENCHING MACHIE. j

application inea octoberili, i921.

may concern; e

F. BEANS, av citi- Stateof Ohio, and useful pring Quenc'hing Machine, of which specication.

This invention relates to'iinproveinents in machines for.

forming and quenching springs vsuch as are used upon automobiles and similar vehicles.

In the manufacture ofsprings lof this character, each rality of flat leaves,reach from a flat bar formed of a pluleaf being" formed of steel bent to aV predeterspring is mined curvature and hardened to retain the exact curvature.

lt is necessary forming apcomple'te and uniformly that the several leaves spring be bent exactly and spring be uniformly and evenly hardened in order that they The objects of vide a machine springs in which the uniformly formed and 'The above and tained byA providing a quenching tank in which is mounted a pair of upright guides lretain the proper shape.

for forming and Vquenching leaves may be quickly and hardened.

other objects may be atwith- Vextending to a point considerably above the tank, a pair of mounted upon said uprights, being supported by per )aw having a reference to the lower an air cylinder being' slidably the lower jaw counter weights, the uplimited movement with jaw, being operated controlled by the operforming j aws ator, wherebyy the jaws mayA be raised from the tank and opened of a finished spring-and the placing of a newY areI closed and tank to quench the' invention. shown in sectio Fig: 3, Fig.'y 4;

Fig. 4, a section* on asini@ iviv, ing.l

blank between the jaws after which thejaws moved downwardly into the the spring. v vj forthringeneral machine embodying the quenching tank being n;

the im@ iLiLrig. 1;;

tical 'sectional view through l adapted to form and that ally leaves of the the invention are to pro-'f :the uprights 5 for the purpose of the cylinder in upright position.v

to permit theremoval r ently movable. erably of .channel construction, the upper jaw 'extremities of the lower jaw rod, the other extremitiesof serial No. 507,674.

pipe.

corresponding parts vthroughout the drawmss- Referring to the construction `illustrated in the drawings, a single unit is shown quench one spring leafv at a time, but inthe practical application of, the invention it has been found advantageous to arrange a plurality of these units in f by one workman, as each spring sliouldbe left in the oil a suflicient time to be properly` cooled land tempered before being remove fromthe forming jaws. ,2 The oil tank yis illustrated at l, oil .being conveyed theretoy through extends downwardly to a point. near the bottom `ofthe tank as shown at 3, anoverflow outlet being provided at4. Bythis means CANTON, oHio, Assreiion 'ro THE Bnl-ins SPRINGy coivn'aivif, orAv A conronnfrroii or OHIO. f

Similar numerals ofy referencefindicate .a tank in position to be successively' operated the pipe 2 which p the oil level is maintained at tlieheightfof the overflow 4..

The spaced, upright v'guides pare support#:ivV I ed upon the longitudinal ychannel iron 6`v` spaced slightly above the Hoor of the'tank and are connected at their upper extremities supports, y interni y.by the longitudinallyv disposed. rod 7 which f ediate its extremities, the? ed, tie rods .l0 extending from the upper end 9 of the lcylinder to. the upper lextremities of bracing y The forming head comprises the lower jaw 11 'and the upper jaw l2, each of lwhich isvprovided at opposite ends. with a bearing portion 13', slidablv mounted upon` the u p-` f rightsfiipon which the jaws are iindeliend- Each `of these liaws is prefform as best v,shown in.

Fig. 4;, bolts 14:y being carried by the `lower :flange of ythe upper jaw and extending loosely ythrough apertures kl5 in the ,upper-k,V

flange ofthe lower jaw, a nut lbeing placed4L upon the lowerjend of each bolt.' llVith this has a relative movementk with respect tofthel lower jaw.,- which islimited by-means of thefnuts 16. Cablesl? areconnected at kone end'to-the porting the counter Weights'21whichare sus;

as atglyfllaiid 2 0 which are 'A iol.

pended within the tank. A pair of upright stop'A members 22 are supported upon the channel 6 and limit the downward movement of the lower jaw.

The cylinder 9 has a piston 23 therein provided with the oppositely disposed leathei1 washers 24, the piston rod 25 being connected at its lower end to the bracket 26 which supports the upper jaw 12.

The curved plate 27 is supported upon one side of the lower jaw by means of the angles 28, guide lugs 29 being provided with the inturned under portions 30 which are secured to the under surface of the plate 2T upon its outer edge, similar guide lugs 3l being provided along the inner edge of said plate andy preferably staggered with relation to the lugs 29. This forms an arcuate seat for the blank 32 from which the spring leaf is formed.

The upper jaw is provided with a plurality of coacting fingers 33 arranged in arcuate position, each being provided with the angular attaching flange 34 having a slot 35 through which the bolts 36 are located, by means of which the fingers may be adjusted radially upon said upper jaw to accommodate spring leaves of different thickness.

Air is supplied to the cylinder through the pipe 37 which leads from any suitable source of compressed air and communicates with the lower end of the cylinder as at 38, a valve 39 controlling the entrance to the cylinder at this point, while a similar valve 40 controls the entran-ce to the upper end of the cylinder.

Each of thesevalves comprises rotary plug 41 having a transverse. bore 42 therethrough and a longitudinal groove 43 in one side. A lever 44 is connected to the stem 45 of the upper valve and a similar lever 46 is connected to the stem 47 of the lower valve. A link 48 is pivotally connected to the outer extremities of the levers 44 and 46 and one extremity of the link 49 is pivotally connected to the link 48 intermediate the ends thereof, the other extremity of the link 49 being pivotally connected as at 50 to the extremity of a lever 5l which is pivoted at 52 in a bracket 53 depending from the tie. rod 7, the other end of said lever being pivotally connected as at 53 to the upper end of the link 54, and pivoted at its lower end to the inner'eXtremity of the operating lever 55 which is pivoted upon the lug 56.

In operating the device, the lever is moved to open the lower valve 39 and close the upper valve 40, allowing the air in the upper end of the cylinder to exhaust through the groove 43 in the upper valve, air being admitted to the lower end of the cylinder, raising the piston and through the piston rod, raising the upper jaw until the nuts 16 vupon the bolts 14 engage the lower jaw when 'the lower jaw will be raised together with the upper jaw, the forming' head being moved out of. the oil in the open position as indicated in Fig. 3.

A heated blank is rthen placed upon the curved plate 27 of the lower jaw, between the guide lugs 29 and 3l and the operating lever 55 moved in the opposite directi0n,`

moving the valves 39 and 4.0 into the position shown in Fig. the upper valve being opened, admitting air to the upper end of the cylinder and forcingithe piston down, the lower valve being closed and allowing the air in the lower end of the cylinder to exhaust through the groove 43 thereof. the upper jaw being lowered into engagement with the lower jaw, bending the hot blank into shape between the jaws, the head being lowered into the oil unt-il the lower ll engages the stops 22, the piston holding the upper jaw down upon the lower jaw as shown in Fig. l, clamping` the heated blank between the forming fingers and the curved plate 27, clamping the blank in the required form and holding the same clamped in this position beneath the oil.

After the formed spring has been held inv the oil in this nosition for the reouired time. the lever 55 is again operated to raise and open the forming head when the finished spring be lifted therefrom and a new heated blank placed upon the lower jaw, after which the forming head is ered into the oil as above described.

l. A spring forming and quenching machine including a tank containing quenching liquid, forming head comprising upper and lower jaws mounted for vertical movement into and out of Said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raising and lowering the same, means for suspending the lower jaw from the upper jaw and means independent of the upper jaw for counterbalancing the lower jaw 2. A. spring forming and quenching machine including a tank containing quenching liquid, a forming head comprising upper and lower jaws mounted for vertical movement into and out of said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raising and lowering the same, depending rods upon the upper jaw, means upon said rods for enga ing the lower jaw to raise the same with the upper jaw after the upper jaw has been raised a predetermined distance, means for limiting the downward movement of the lower jaw and means independent of the upper jaw for counterbalancing the lower jaw.

3. A spring forming and chine including a tank ing liquid, a forming per and lower jaws mounted for vertical movement into and out of said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raising and quenching macontaining quenchagain lowhead comprising uplowering the same, depending rods upon the upper jaw and means upon said rods for engaging the lower jaw to raise the same with the upper jaw after the upper jaw hasbeen raised a predetermined distance.

4. A spring forming and quenching machine including a tank containing quenching liquid, a forming head comprising upper and lower jaws mounted for vvertical movement into and out of said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raising and lowering the same, depending rods upon the upper jaw and means upon said rods for engaging the lower jaw to raise the same with the upper jaw after the upper jaw has been raised a predetermined distance, 'and means for limiting the downward movement of the lower jaw.

5. A spring forming and quenching inachine including a tank containing quenching liquid, a forming head comprising upper and lower jaws mounted vfor vertical movement into and out of said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raisingy an lowering the same, depending rods upon the upper jaw and means upon said rods for engaging the lower jaw to raise the same with the upper jaw after the upper jaw has been raised a predetermined distance, and

means for counter-balancing the lower jaw.

6. A springiorming and quenching matank containing quenchchine including a ing liquid, a per and lower jaws mounted for vertical movement into and out of said tank, means connected to the upper jaw for raising and lowering the same, depending rods upon the upper jaw and means upon'said rods Jfor engaging the lower jaw to raise the same with the upper jaw after the upper jaw has been raised a predetermined distance, and means for counter-balancing the lower jaw and means for limiting the downward movement of the lower jaw.

7. A spring .forming and quenching machine including a quenching tank, vertical guide members extending into the tank, a

forming head comprising up-l pair of aws slidably mounted upon the guide members, a Harige upon the lower jaw provided with apertures, depending rods upon the upper jaw extending through said apertures, and provided with means at their lower ends to engage lower jaw, means for limitingk the downward movement of the lower jaw and means for raising and lowering the upper jaw. Y

8. A spring forming and quenchingkmachine including a quenching tank, vertical guide members extending into the tank, a pair of jaws slidably mounted upon the the V*flange upon the` guide members, `a iiange upon the lower jaw upon-the upper jaw extending through said apertures, and provided with means attheir lower ends Jto-engage the flange upon the lower jaw, means Jfor limiting the Vdown- -provided with apertures, depending rods ward movement of the lower jaw, a vertical cylindermounted Vabove the upper jaw, a piston in the cylinder connected to the upper jaw and means for admitting fluid to either end of the cylinder to raise or lower the piston.

9. yA spring chine,` including a quenching guide members extending into the tank, a. pair of jaws slidablyymounted upon the guide members, a flange uponr the lowerl jaw provided with apertures, depending rods upon the upper jaw eXtendingthrough -saidi apertures, and provided with means at their lower ends to engage the flange upon the lower jaw, means for limiting the downward movement of the lower jaw, a vertical cylinder mounted piston inthe cylinderj connected to the up-` per jaw, a fluid line connected to each end of the cylinder, a valve in said uid line at each end of the cylinder, and means Jfor automatically opening either valve and moving the other valve to exhaust fluid from the adjacent end of the cylinder.

ln testimony that I claim have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN F. BEANS.

above the upper jaw, a4

orming and quenching mai tank, vertical `the above, 

